Cabinet Office report recommends smokeless cigarettes

Smokers should be encouraged to use smokeless cigarettes to prevent tobacco-related illness and death, a government-backed report says.

Smokeless cigarettes do not contain the harmful toxins and cancer-causing chemicals that are found in regular cigarettes, but still deliver nicotine to the lungs.

According to the Cabinet Office's behavioural insight team, the technology could save tens of thousands of lives.

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A report in the Guardian newspaper reveals that the team believes encouraging smokers to manage their nicotine addiction - as opposed to telling them they will die if they do not quit - is more likely to be effective.

'It will be important to get the regulatory framework for these products right, to encourage new products,' the Guardian quotes the report as saying.

'If alternative and safe nicotine products can be developed which are attractive enough to substitute people away from traditional cigarettes, they could have the potential to save tens of thousands of lives a year.'

The behavioural insight team was previously responsible for the introduction of a system of 'prompted choice' on organ donor registration for people renewing or applying for driving licenses.

It is hoped that the system will lead to a significant increase in the number of organ donors.

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